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“Keeiigoooo.” Dabi’s low purr rumbled next to Keigo’s ear as the vampire curled around him. “It’s a full moon tonight.”
Keigo yawned, his brain still clinging to the fogginess of sleep. What did Dabi want? The full moon? “I thought that was a werewolf thing.”
“It’s a vampire thing, too. We’re at our most powerful, but it’s also like…” Dabi paused, licking Keigo’s neck, “like a sugar high, I guess?”
Powerful vampires on a sugar high? “That doesn’t sound like a good combination.”
“It’s a fun combination.” Dabi’s teeth bit down into his neck, making Keigo hiss in pain, but then melt into the vampire’s arms as the sharp pain quickly gave way to waves of pleasure. Honestly Keigo was beginning to enjoy even that first moment of pain since the two feelings were so connected.
Dabi pulled away, and Keigo whimpered as his boyfriend licked up the last few drops of blood from the bite.
“I want to go to the celebration.”
“Celebration?” For what? Wait. Right. The full moon thingy. Hyper vampires. “Do you guys do this every month?”
“Yes. But I was keeping you away from my clan. Now that you’ve met them, it won’t be an issue.”
Right. Dabi’s clan of vampires who were definitely hostile toward humans and barely seemed to tolerate Keigo. “You sure I’ll be welcome?”
“You’re my master and you passed Shigaraki’s screening. You’ll be fine. And you said you wanted to go on a date somewhere besides the Devil’s Crypt, right?” Dabi pulled back, looking serious for once. Keigo sighed, this must be weirdly important to him.
Alright, apparently the unknown vampire ritual was going to become a monthly thing. At least Keigo would have the chance to do something that was more like a date than heading to the bar downstairs. “Yeah, sure.”
Not thinking anything else of it, Keigo rolled back over and let sleep claim him once more.
Later that night, Keigo was definitely second-guessing whether or not he wanted to attend this. Dabi had insisted on coming with him as Keigo delivered food (making the girls who loved Keigo’s “cat” very happy), but once the sun started to set, Dabi had taken over the wheel.
And now Keigo’s car was parked next to a forest as Keigo followed Dabi uphill. Stupid vampire stamina. They’d been climbing for at least a mile, but Dabi showed no signs of exhaustion. At this point, Keigo was about to call it quits and stomp back to the car on his own, forest-full of vampires be damned.
The autumn leaves would have been gorgeous in the daylight, sure, but at night they could barely see anyth—
Was that a waterfall?
Keigo swore he could hear the sound of a waterfall. But there weren’t any waterfalls nearby. Or at least, there shouldn’t be.
Dabi grabbed Keigo’s hand, pulling him towards a large wall of ivy that hung from a cliff. “Through here.”
Right.
Was this supposed to be some kind of mystical fairy tale joke?
Except Dabi was able to pull aside the ivy that should have been clinging to the cliff’s surface, and there wasn’t a cliff wall.
Instead, it was an opening to a lake in the middle of the forest, the previously muted sound of the waterfall now thundering as it roared over the cliffside next to the opening and into the water, its mist spraying both of them.
“Come on, there’s a path along the right wall.” Dabi pulled Keigo after him and through the opening, turning sharply to the right to avoid falling straight in.
Keigo stared.
The lake was beautiful. The moon’s rays reflected off its surface, and as far as Keigo could tell, it was ridiculously deep.
Dabi’s hand wrapped around his wrist, jolting Keigo from his thoughts. “Be careful. There’s an underground river that the water leaves through, and the current is fast. Plus, water’s not exactly uh… swimmable.”
Why was Keigo’s life now filled with so many vague warnings? “So the myth about vampires not being able to cross running water is actually true? Does a lake even count?”
“Yeah, that one’s unfortunately true, and this lake does count, since there’s an underwater river. Meeting here is kind of our way of sticking a middle finger to the universe.”
Great. “And what exactly happens if you fall into running water?”
“We get wet.”
“…and then you disintegrate?” If they supposedly couldn’t do it, something bad had to happen, right?
“Nah, we just sink like lead and can barely move.”
Huh. That was incredibly boring, actually. But still did not sound pleasant, even if vampires could survive due to the whole never-breathing thing.
“You’ll do it, too, now that you’re connected to me.”
What?! Keigo’s eyes jerked away from the beautiful (and now apparently life-threatening) water. He scooted as close to the rocky wall as he could. “When exactly were you going to tell me that?!”
“It’s not like we live near running water. And it would’ve been funny to see you try to move in shallow water.”
“Touya!” Keigo groaned. He could admit that watching Dabi flail in the water did sound somewhat amusing, but it also could go really poorly. “Can I at least still use bridges and boats?”
“Yeah, those are fine. Boats’ll make you queasy, though.”
Damn it. “I likedboats.” At least, Keigo liked them on the rare occasions that he’d been able to ride one. Yet another downside to this bond.
They had circled around the lake and were nearing the end of the path now, and over Dabi’s shoulder Keigo could make out several figures lurking along the bank. Some were in human form, but given the numerous bats circling the same area, Keigo was betting they were all vampires, except for maybe a few vampire masters like himself.
Keigo walked a little bit closer to Dabi. He hadn’t forgotten what Dabi’s clan had said about other vampires wanting to kill him because their bond made Dabi more powerful.
“Relax. This area’s under a truce. If anyone starts a fight here, everyone will attack them, so no one dares.”
Well, at least there was that.
Dabi ignored the white cat hissing at him, instead moving toward a group of vampires where Kurogiri was leaning against a tree with a black cat perched on his shoulder. Keigo stared. Why did the cat have what looked like a white handprint on its head?
“Touya-kun!” The blonde girl who had tried to stab Keigo at Dabi’s apartment was skipping their way. “You made it!”
“I told you he’d be here!” Another vampire called out, Keigo thought his name started with a B. Bubai.. Bubaigawara! The vampire shook his head. “I never thought he’d make it.”
Another bat transformed, revealing the tall woman who had been at Dabi’s apartment with the others. “We missed you, Touya-kun.”
The black cat leaped off Kurogiri’s shoulder, and there was a layer of fog as he transformed into Tomura, who was wearing the same black hoodie and sweatpants as last time.
The clan leader’s gaze dismissed Keigo as he sneered at Dabi. “You still have that human.”
Dabi pulled Keigo closer, wrapping an arm over his shoulders. “What can I say? He’s nice to have around.”
“Nice to have around?” Keigo scoffed. “Is that really the best you’ve got?”
“Awww, don’t be mad. We’re here to have fun.” Dabi purred, stretching his arms upward and looking toward the sky. “Man it feels so good to be out under the full moon again.”
A bat transformed, revealing a brunette vampire with a slender build. Keigo vaguely remembered him from the clan gathering at Dabi’s apartment, though he’d been silent that day.
“Nothing truer has been spoken.” Brown eyes shifted to evaluate Keigo before the vampire bowed. “My apologies, I didn’t introduce myself when we first met, and I didn’t want to do you the disservice a second time. I go by Sako Atsuhiro.”
Keigo bowed in return, careful to keep it at the same height. “Takami Keigo.”
The other vampire straightened, offering Keigo a charming grin that Keigo had the uncomfortable realization was probably the last thing many humans saw before their deaths. “It’s been lovely to meet you, but I prefer my other form during the full moon.” With that, the vampire transformed back into a dark brown bat, then flapped up toward the cloud of bats.
“Wait for me, man!” The guy with a purple mohawk transformed into a bat that was dark black, but seemed to have an almost green tint to its fur.
The tall girl transformed, flying up behind him. “I’m coming, too!”
The blonde girl giggled as she waved at the sky. “Bye, Shuichi-kun, Kenji-chan! Have fun!”
The vampires were… weird. Well, weirder than they had been last time. Their eyes were kind of dazed and unfocused?
There was a burst of smoke behind Keigo, and suddenly Dabi was jumping up onto his shoulders, his tail curling around Keigo’s neck as he purred in his ear.
What the hell. Of course his vampire boyfriend dragged him all the way out here and then promptly became a freaking cat. “Could you please change back? You never even told me what we’re supposed to be doing tonight. And I’ve not been introduced to your whole clan.”
“I’m Toga Himiko! And it’s the full moon, silly.” The blonde girl giggled at him, then grinned wide, revealing her fangs. “We celebrate.”
Celebrate.
Right.
Keigo really didn’t want to know what these particular vampires did to celebrate, because he had a feeling it usually involved maiming humans. But Dabi wouldn’t have brought him here if that was the case, right?
Dabi’s head nuzzled against Keigo’s cheek, his purr deepening as Keigo reached up to scratch his chin. “What exactly do vampire celebrations involve?”
“Having fun!” Bubaigawara cheered, then sighed, “except tonight’s going to be the worst.”
The worst? “Why?”
“Takami-san!”
Keigo turned, surprised that someone here would know his name, then smiled when he saw Izuku and Shouto. “Yo! Are the Todorokis coming here, too?”
Tomura growled behind Keigo.
Great. Was the Shigaraki and Todoroki hatred a mutual thing? Well, except for Dabi. And Izuku, since he was from the ‘good’ Shigaraki clan.
Shouto shook his head, one tense hand on Izuku’s shoulder as he watched the assorted vampires behind Keigo. “My clan and Izuku’s usually celebrate further north. We came here to get away from Enji. I’m avoiding him until he accepts Izuku as my chosen mate.”
Izuku was bright red now, and the young vampire rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. “It’s, um… it’s nice to meet you all! I’ve only met Kurogiri-san before.”
Keigo quickly stepped aside as Tomura moved forward, eyeing the youngest Shigaraki from his uncle’s clan. “So you’re Yagi’s kitten.”
Toga leered at Izuku from behind Tomura, gesturing with a knife that she definitely hadn’t been holding a second ago. “Can I cut him, Tomura-kun? He’d look really pretty all covered in red.”
Izuku’s face blanched as Shouto stepped forward, one arm stretched in front of his mate. “You can’t attack another vampire here.”
“Boo.” Toga stuck out her tongue at Izuku. “He’s just a kitten. It hardly counts.”
Shouto growled as Izuku swallowed, his eyes darting over to Dabi, who was still curled around Keigo’s shoulders. “Um, does your clan have a problem with Yagi-san? I thought you didn’t like the oldest Shigaraki, just like--”
“Yagi’s annoying.” Red eyes narrowed. “Don’t think that just because we all hate the same man, we’re on the same side. We’re not. We want to destroy the entire clan system. You lot just want to take down my asshole Father.”
“Umm…” Izuku stepped back, fumbling with his fingers. “I don’t really know what you mean, sorry. I spent most of the last year healing, so I haven’t learned that much about vampires, yet.”
Shouto pushed Izuku backwards. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. Not tonight.”
Tomura scowled, but shrugged and looked up toward the sky. When he looked back at them, his eyes had that same dazed expression as before. “Do what you want. But remember that Touya is my clan’s second in command, not the Todoroki clan’s.”
With that, Tomura transformed into a cat, darting across the grass and back up onto Kurogiri’s shoulders.
Toga laughed, a puff of smoke announcing her own transformation into a bat that started flapping above Bubaigawara’s head.
Izuku sighed, one hand over his heart. “Why are other vampires so scary? I just want to meet people outside my clan.”
Keigo smiled at the kid and reached over to ruffle his hair. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
Shouto shrugged. “Nii-san’s other clan hardly counts as normal, anyways. They don’t follow the rules.”
“Thanks!” Bubaigawara pointed at Shouto, annoyed, as Toga chittered in her bat form above his head. “Take that back! We’re not normal at all!”
Shouto stared at him. “…Right.”
Dabi’s form tensed, but before Keigo could even look at the cat, he’d launched off Keigo’s shoulder, chasing the white cat that had hissed at him earlier. The two ran around the meadow, and Izuku got a glazed look in his eyes before transforming into a cat as well.
The tiny green kitten lunged forward, but Shouto was faster, grabbing him by the nape. “Not yet. We’ll go enjoy the moon on our own until they accept you a bit more.”
Accept him?
Shouto was already walking away, though, so Keigo turned toward Kurogiri with a raised eyebrow.
The quiet vampire sighed. “Izuku is still young and hasn’t learned our ways. Many vampires won’t interact with young ones because of their ignorance.”
Jeez. Talk about harsh. How were they supposed to learn if no one would talk to them? At least Izuku had Shouto and his own clam. “So what’s so special about the moon? Touya said it made you more powerful and gave you a sugar high? Is that why you’re all—” A bat screeched, making Keigo wince as three of them fluttered around each other in a flurry of wings right overhead, “—hyper?”
“It’s the best, man!” Bubaigawara was suddenly on his feet and tackling Keigo in a hug. “You should never join in!”
“What?”
“Bubaigawara regularly contradicts himself.” Keigo looked over Bubaigawara’s shoulder at Kurogiri, still confused, then stiffened as Bubaigawara started sniffing the air. Firm hands tightened around Keigo’s arms for a second, but then he laughed and slapped Keigo’s shoulder. “You smell super great! It stinks!”
… What?
In the next second, Bubaigawara was transforming into a blond cat with a scarred forehead and crooked tail, then leaping after the grass with what Keigo was pretty sure was supposed to be a battle cry of some sort.
His brain was still frozen on what Bubaigawara had said. “Doesn’t smelling nice mean that you’re a good match for a vampire or something like that?”
“Yes.” Kurogiri nodded, petting Tomura with one hand as their clan’s leader crouched on his shoulder. “As friends, allies, or partners in some form or fashion.”
Tomura purred? At least Keigo thought it was a purr? But then he leaped onto the nearest tree, and a cloud of smoke covered them for a second before Keigo saw Kurogiri follow after Tomura as a fluffy black cat.
Alone, Keigo sighed. “Whatever. One less reason for them to want to kill me.” He went over to the edge of the clearing, leaning back against a tree as he searched for Dabi.
Keigo snorted when he found him. Dabi was still wrestling with the white cat, and they were taunting each other by the lake’s edge, no doubt both trying to get the other one to land in it. At least it looked like there was somewhat of a shallow section near the clearing.
The leaves rustled to Keigo’s left, and a black cat was leaping over Keigo’s head--only when it landed on all fours did Keigo notice the white handprint that meant the cat was Tomura.
And he had a dead robin in his mouth?
The other cats froze, their eyes glassy in the moonlight as they eyed the robin.
Something told Keigo this was not a good scenario.
Tomura practically preened at the attention before suddenly dashing through the small crowd.
It took Keigo a second to realize that the grass was decaying underneath his paws.
Jeez. No wonder he was a clan leader, Keigo couldn’t imagine how deadly that ability was when Tomura used it with lethal intent.
The other cats chased after Tomura, but Keigo couldn’t help but notice that they would all jump to the side if they got too close, staying out of Tomura’s deadly reach. Izuku tried to chase after Tomura, as well, but Shouto pounced on him, tackling the kitten to the ground.
A few bats swooped down, though Keigo was pretty sure it was only the bats from Dabi’s clan: Sako, Toga, Shuichi and Kenji.
Keigo couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched the vampires’ antics. It was almost hard to believe this hodge podge crew of weirdo cats and bats were immortal vampires.
And then Keigo’d look at the rapidly decaying meadow, and suddenly it wasn’t so hard to imagine at all.
One of the bats managed to clip Tomura’s ear, making him drop the bird to hiss and leap at them, jumping at least six feet into the air, but still missing as the bats flew just out of reach.
Keigo was also positive that the twittering sound filling the air was the bat version of laughter. Tomura’s angry yowls definitely didn’t sound pleased with them.
Out of the corner of his eye, Keigo saw Dabi pause in his antics with the white cat by the lake, evaluating Tomura as his leader hissed at the bats.
Even before his boyfriend darted forward, Keigo already knew what the cat would do.
He’d seen that look in the supermarket right before Dabi overturned an expensive bottle of wine.
Within half a second, the bird was in Dabi’s mouth as the black cat leaped away from Tomura’s swipe and angry hiss.
Dabi’s ears were alert as he slowly backed away, his tail quivering with each step.
Tomura lunged.
Dabi leaped through the rapidly decaying grass, burning up any remnants of green with his blue flames.
The chase was on.
Well, for a second.
Shouto’s half-white, half-red form tackled his brother, sending them both sprawling and the robin skidding away on the grass.
Dabi hissed, ears pinned back as his back arched and his flames spiked higher, but then ice was surrounding them as Shouto hissed back.
Izuku darted forward, somehow ridiculously fast, grabbing the robin and sprinting toward the water on unsteady kitten-legs.
Shit. That wasn’t going to end well.
Keigo stepped away from his tree as a loud yowl announced Tomura charging toward Izuku, the two Todoroki cats freezing in their own brawl.
Izuku squeaked at the water’s edge and threw the robin away, fleeing from Tomura as fast as his kitten legs would allow.
The robin landed in the water.
Tomura jumped in after it, then let out a loud yowl, frozen in the shallow water, the robin still floating a few feet away.
There was a swirl of black fog as Kurogiri transformed, suddenly at the water’s edge as he lifted the black cat from the water. “You should be more careful next time.”
The second his paws touched the grass, Tomura shook his whole body, then transformed back, shivering in the autumn air as he stood there, drenched from head to toe.
“You’re dead, kitten.” The vampire whirled on his heel, stomping toward Izuku, but Shouto transformed and darted in his way, his angry growl sounding much more menacing than when he’d been a small cat.
Ice started to crystallize under Shouto’s feet. “Back off. It’s his first full moon underneath its rays.”
“Like I care! Teach him the rules!”
Annnnd now the grass was decaying again. Great.
Keigo really wasn’t sure if he should intervene in this or not, but Dabi was in between them a second later, one hand on both their chests as he pushed each one back. “Calm down, idiots!”
“His pet kitten threw my bird in the lake!”
“Sorry!” Izuku peeked out from behind Shouto and quickly bowed as deep as he could. “I wasn’t looking where I threw it! I’m not very good at that yet. I didn’t mean for it to land in the lake.”
Tomura hissed, but Dabi rolled his eyes and pushed Tomura back again. “You’re the idiot that tried to fetch it and jumped in. So calm down already. It was just a bird, and I want to have fun.”
Red eyes narrowed. “Fine. But he has to catch me a new one.”
“Ok!” Izuku nodded frantically, his eyes already scanning the treeline.
“And you can’t have your mate catch it for you.”
That made Izuku blanch. “I’m um… not very good at cat things, yet.”
Tomura sneered, “Then you better improve fast.” And with that he transformed and bounded off, running after Bubaigawara’s cat form.
With the fight over, tension seemed to ease from the whole clearing as everyone let out the collective breath they hadn’t realized they’d been holding. The white cat hissed at Dabi again and froze his left foot in ice, so the two of them resumed their game of taunting as Shouto nervously watched Izuku.
Izuku’s attempts to catch a bird were honestly pathetic. He did eventually figure out how to jump fairly high--certainly higher than Tomura had--but all the birds were staying hidden in the trees away from the bats, so jumping didn’t do him much good. And for whatever reason it didn’t seem to occur to Izuku to climb.
With a sigh, Keigo walked over and picked up the kitten, placing Izuku on his shoulder. “Hold on.” Tomura had never said that Keigo couldn’t help, and he might as well—he could only watch Touya play tag with Tomura and the white cat for so long, even if the supernatural element of the game made it more interesting.
Climbing the tree where Tomura had first found the robin was easy enough, and apparently there was a whole nest of them. Keigo felt bad as he set Izuku down and the kitten leaped into the nest, grabbing one’s neck and biting down.
Keigo winced.
Izuku looked so proud of himself as he pulled the dead baby bird out of its nest, though. His tail was a lot looser and no longer twitching anxiously, and his ears were perked up and forward as he showed off the baby bird to Keigo.
Keigo couldn’t help but smile at the cuteness and gently pet Izuku’s head. “Good job, kiddo.” He picked them both up, putting Izuku back on his shoulder and then climbing down.
Tomura was glaring at him. “I said no help.”
Dabi was immediately at Keigo’s side, a cloud of smoke before his arm draped over Keigo’s shoulders, careful not to dislodge the kitten. “You said his mate couldn’t help him. Keigo’s not Izuku’s mate.”
Red eyes narrowed, and Keigo offered the vampire a smile. “All I did was help him into the tree; he got the bird himself.”
“He’s a cat. He should be able to climb the tree on his own, and he never will if people keep babying him.”
Izuku was bright red as he transformed back and held out the baby robin in his palm, but his eyes were firm. “I’ll be better next month. And I, umm, I still got you the bird.”
Tomura snarled, grabbing the baby bird before disappearing into his cat form and bounding off.
“Someone’s determined to have a bad night.” Dabi chuckled next to Keigo’s ear, but then he was pulling away and ruffling Izuku’s hair. “Good job, kid, even if you had Keigo’s help.”
Izuku’s composure finally broke a little and he sniffed, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I’ve never killed anything before. When I was in cat form it felt so natural! But then I was holding this dead bird, and it was just a baby! How could I kill a baby bird?!” Izuku rubbed at his eyes, sniffling a little before starting to sob.
“The death of a bird is sad?” Shouto wrapped his arms around the young vampire while giving Dabi a confused look over Izuku’s shaking shoulders.
Dabi shrugged, then looked at Keigo, but Keigo didn’t know what to say, either. How was he supposed to know about comforting a vampire after his first kill? And the kid was right, at least by human standards, killing a baby bird with your bare hands or uh, mouth, wasn’t something that was um… normal.
Shouto’s shoulders sagged, but he leaned down, whispering something to Izuku.
Izuku sobbed harder.
Shouto looked even more at a loss than before.
Keigo shook his head and looked over at Dabi. “Were you ever like that?”
“Hell no.” Dabi snorted. “You think Enji would’ve let us sob over killing a baby bird? The Todoroki clan may have a policy against killing humans, but they’ll kill anything else without remorse.”
“Sorry!” Izuku hiccuped, bowing to the older vampire. “I’ll get stronger!”
Shouto glared at Dabi.
Dabi groaned, then grabbed Keigo’s hand, stepping over various playful cats as he pulled Keigo toward another corner of the clearing. His smirk was sinful. “Come on. Let’s ignore these idiots for the rest of the moon. I can think of some things that would be nice to do in this form, too.”
Keigo blushed, looking back over his shoulder at all the vampires. “Nothing too involved, alright? Not with people around. Especially people who want to kill me.”
“I already told you they won’t attack you tonight, but alright.” Dabi grinned at Keigo, then pulled him closer for a kiss. “By bringing you here tonight, I’m making sure everyone knows I’ve accepted you.”
“But couldn’t a master just order you to bring them here?”
Dabi’s grin widened. “There’s another step to my plan.”
Fire.
Keigo was on fire.
He shouted in surprise, clutching at Dabi, desperately trying to escape the searing—wait.
It wasn’t burning him.
Keigo stared at Dabi in wonder. The warm blue flames were dancing all around them, but they didn’t hurt. “What’s going on?”
“My powers can’t hurt you, idiot. And with the moon’s strength, they won’t hurt me, either.” Dabi pulled Keigo closer, kissing him again. “No one will dare come close to us.”
Blue flames wrapped around them, their forms becoming dark shadows flickering in the bright light.
And no one could touch them.
Maybe Keigo didn’t mind if Dabi got a little distracted, after all.